Adelind crouched down to be closer to my face and it added pressure on my palm that left me breathless. I felt my bones breaking apart and dislocating under her damned shoe heel and I was helpless to stop it.

“This is the least of what I can do to you, little girl. Do not cross me again.” She murmured calmly as if she wasn’t crushing my palm. Her voice was deathly low and made my drowning eyes fill with fear. “I am not your father.” And with that, Adelind stood, removed her heel from my hand and stepped over my body out into the hall, leaving me on the floor of her room.

I curled in on myself like a maggot and cradled my hand to my chest. It still hurt and I could still see the hate in Adelind’s eyes as she crushed my little bones. I whimpered and cried, unwilling to move. Elsebeth peeked her head in and got me up from the floor. She brought me down to the kitchens where people wrapped my hand and did their best to set the bones right again.

That was the day I stepped down from luxury and became a servant.